STAR WARS News: Lord, Miller, Picked For Young Han Solo Film

If you had doubts about the planned Han Solo film in the works, today’s news should make you feel a bit better about it.

The Hollywood Reporter broke the story, which was confirmed by StarWars.com and one the co-directors themselves, that The Lego Movie’s Phil Lord and Chris Miller have been tapped to helm the standalone Han Solo flick. The pair will be directing from a script by the father and son team of Lawrence and Jon Kasdan, a script which is set sometime in the character’s pre-A New Hope life. The film is set to be released on May 25, 2018.

Lord and Miller have been attached to a number of geek friendly projects over the last year or so, including Warner Brother’s The Flash, which is also set for release in 2018–on March 23rd. Lord and Miller were developing that film, and an animated Spider-Man film, with many thinking that they would also be joining the projects as writers and directors as well. Obviously, their agreeing to bring a young Han to the screen puts their hands-on involvement in The Flash in serious doubt. Warner Brothers just can’t catch a break, can they?

This is the first film we’ve worked on that seems like a good idea to begin with. We promise to take risks, to give the audience a fresh experience, and we pledge ourselves to be faithful stewards of these characters who mean so much to us. This is a dream come true for us. And not the kind of dream where you’re late for work and all your clothes are made of pudding, but the kind of dream where you get to make a film with some of the greatest characters ever, in a film franchise you’ve loved since before you can remember having dreams at all.–a statement on StarWars.com from the directors.

I’ve like what I’ve seen of the pair’s work, and they seem to be genuine fans of the franchise. You can argue if a Han Solo film needs to be made at all. But since it’s being made, it’s best that it is in good hands.

Now they have to cast someone with the same roguish charisma and charm that a young Harrison Ford had. Good luck with that.

William is cursed with the shared love of comic books and of films. Luckily, this is a great time for him to be alive. His writing has been featured on Broken Frontier.com, PopMatters.com and in Comics Foundry magazine.